C A L A M I T Y (marauder's era)
by intricatelyWayward
Summary: In an era plagued by misfortune and misery, there remains a group of four teenage boys who seem to laugh just a little louder than everyone else. Most people merely exist, but those trouble makers live — and man do they ever live on the edge. It is important to note that every action will cause a reaction, and these boys may have gotten themselves in a little too deep on this one.
1. Irregularis

_**September 16th, 1976.**_

 _"We were just teenagers, living in a world of fire, trying not to burn when it felt as if our insides were highly flammable."_

This story contains an OC, if that's not your type of thing then this story may not be for you.

* * *

The black cauldron lay dauntingly in front of Elaina, its worn exterior that was full of scratches had rendered it dull, but it sat on the counter - taunting her all the same. It was the first real Potions' class of her sixth year — as they've had a few classes to date, but it was strictly teaching, research, and assignments. This was the first class where all of the sixth years were attempting to make a difficult potion which they had been researching extensively for the past few days.

Elaina had presented herself to class moments before being deemed late — this meant that she would be partnerless throughout the class, making her work undeniably more challenging. Elaina was more than aware that she would have been partnerless whether she arrived late _or_ twenty minutes early, which was made quite evident throughout fifth year when she was alienated by everyone in her house. Elaina remained friendless, and thus partnerless when it came to Potions classes, so she ended up arriving late, which placed her in whichever desk was free — usually on Gryffindor's side of the room; _lucky none of them paid any attention to her either,_ as it was already embarrassing enough to her that she wasn't capable of sitting with her own house.

"Okay, now today, class, we will be brewing the Draught of Peace," Professor Slughorn stated while moving to the front of the room, "which we have been analyzing for the past few days. Now, I will be making my way around the classroom periodically to assure that everything is going smoothly, but if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me. This is an advanced potion, and the first of many that we will be brewing over the course of sixth year, so please do not shy away from asking me for assistance."

That was the only instruction that was given to the sixth year students before they were given the rest of the period to work on their potion. Elaina was more than prepared to brew this potion, as she had stayed up in her common room reading relentlessly over all of the materials she had pertaining to the Draught of Peace; however, it was evident that many of the other students were not as prepared as she.

Some students shakily mixed their ingredients, whereas others read over the step ten times prior to completing the step; Elaina, however, glossed over the instructions before promptly accomplishing what was stated. Despite the fact that this was quite a difficult potion to brew, she found it quite simple, and found her mind drifting elsewhere. She intently listened to the conversation circulating in the classroom. The typical Gryffindor banter had her suppressing a grin, for you see Elaina loved to hear people enjoying each others company, but nobody seemed to enjoy hers.

Loneliness had surrounded Elaina Pierson since the second half of her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was actually quite popular within her own house and had many friends (a few of which were in different houses, a fact that can be considered rare among the majority of students in Slytherin), prior to their discovery of her blood status. In Slytherin, blood purity was not necessary but highly regarded, and since she was muggle born she lacked what her friends _at least_ partially had. The shock hit all of her friends in Slytherin very hard, they felt betrayed that she kept that from them for five years, resulting in them all turning their back on Elaina.

Now on the seventh step of the potion, Elaina shook the powdered porcupine quills vigorously prior to adding some until her potion turned a rich maroon colour. She promptly stirred the potion until it became orange. The process of adding porcupine quills to the potion was repeated until the potion turned turquoise, and being on the tenth step she had to allow the potion to simmer until it changed to a deep purple. Elaina was no doubt making quick work of this potion, as other students were merely approaching the step of forcefully shaking the porcupine quills. Elaina suppressed a tiny smirk as she intently gazed at her cauldron, as the other students were behind her and they had two people working on each potion, and she was alone, producing the potion quicker than the rest of the class.

"Here, James, catch this," Sirius Black, a troublesome Gryffindor student a few tables behind called out to his friend. He tossed the container of powdered porcupine quills toward his messy haired friend. James Potter's hand flew up to catch it, but was a fraction of a second too late, the porcupine quills merely being hit by his swinging hand, causing them to fly directly into Elaina's now purple potion.

Elaina who was ready to add the powdered unicorn horn into her cauldron saw the quills sink into the mixture, turning her potion a murky brown, which bubbled furiously. She cursed under her breath before glaring behind her and meeting the shocked expression of the two nuisances.

"Well, it looks like you have made an error, Elaina," Professor Slughorn said, approaching her table after seeing the colour of her failed potion.

"Yes." Elaina muttered through gritted teeth.

"I wouldn't have expected every student to pull this off flawlessly, and it would have surprised me if you would have completed this potion all by yourself on the first try," the professor continued, gazing into her potion. Elaina seemed to be the only one fully aware of Sirius and James intently listening in on the conversation, ready for her to tell the professor what had happened. A part of Elaina truly wanted to reassure the professor it was not her fault and that she had been right all along, but another part of her - perhaps a suppressed one - seemed to get ahold of her tongue first.

"Yes, I added porcupine quills by accident when I should have added powdered unicorn horn," Elaina explained, gazing down intently at her table that was littered with wasted potion ingredients.

"Ah! An honest mistake with the consistent repetition of adding porcupine quills…" the professor commented, aware that other students were watching to merely see what punishment she would receive.

"Thank you for understanding," Elaina pronounced, her hands meeting behind her back as she stared down at her shoes.

"I'll refrain from giving you a zero if you would consider writing an essay about the Draught of Peace to be due at the next lesson acknowledging where your errors were and what should have happened had you added the proper ingredient rather than the porcupine quills," he offered, waving his wand over her cauldron causing the bubbling brown concoction to be cleared.

Elaina nodded before cleaning her station and proceeding to exit the class avoiding the curious eyes of James Potter and Sirius Black.

The Marauders were scrambling to leave, tripping over one another the moment that Professor Slughorn had dismissed their Potions class; they were the first ones to leave, and thus they were the first ones to head to the Great Hall. Their child-like routine continued all the way from the dungeons to the Great Hall for dinner; for example, one of them would sprint ahead and the others would then have to struggle to keep up, then one of them — typically Sirius — would stop right in the middle of the group, causing them all to trip over one another and fight for their own balance.

You see, everyone in Hogwarts knew who the Marauders were: they were the four trouble-makers in Gryffindor. What made them appear so trendy was their close-knit group and how they would practically do anything for one another; they gave everyone the impression that they were brothers rather than just close friends. The exclusiveness of this group is what made others envious of them, I mean sure they were all quite good-looking in their own unique way, yet it wasn't merely their looks that the girls seemed to fawn over. Let's face it, the four of them weren't well-known for _just_ their attractiveness, it was the stunts, the pranks, the tight friendship, and the constant laughs that made them so reputable; however, no matter how untouchable they seemed to the public eye, they were simply one more goofy handshake away from being the biggest dorks ever.

Their textbooks were swiftly shoved underneath the Gryffindor table before they took their seats; Sirius's book, however, was haphazardly tossed rather than neatly tucked away. The boys gaped at the bountiful meal provided for them before carelessly scooping some potatoes, vegetables and pork onto their plates. Their food was far from proportionate to the amount that the other students took, since most students enjoyed a few scoops of potatoes but the boys (apart from Remus) each enjoyed a mountain of potatoes.

"So, what in the hell do you reckon that was?" questioned Sirius before he had the chance to attack his massive plate of food.

"What happened?" Peter quizzed, encouraging Sirius to elaborate while his fork, loaded with mashed potatoes, was shoved into his mouth.

"He's referring to what happened in Potions, where Elaina Pierson took responsibility for a little havoc that James and Sirius had caused," Remus described to Peter. It had come as no shock that Peter was unaware of the situation, since he had to focus intently on Potions to produce an acceptable result.

"Why in the bloody hell would she want to do something like that?" Peter managed to ask over his mouth full of potatoes, his brows pulled down in confusion while his fork dove back to his plate.

"Our dazzling good looks maybe," James chuckled, running a hand messily through his hair, raising his eyebrows, and shooting a look at his three other friends, earning him a few laughs. He pushed the snitch which was gripped tightly in his other hand into his pocket before grabbing his fork and starting on the food.

"I wonder why she would feel the need to do that," Remus spoke after taking a sip of water, "I mean, you two are _practically_ in detention every other day and her record is _practically_ spotless."

"How do you know so much about her, Remus?" Sirius asked, with a suggestive smirk tugging at his lips, reaching for his drink and taking a quick sip.

"Because I actually pay attention."

"I pay attention to what matters," Sirius fired back playfully.

"Hence why you doze off in certain classes and focus the majority of your energy into pulling pranks that land you into detention, right?" Remus chortled, taking a monstrous bite of a buttered dinner roll.

"Exactly!"

"Hey, what did you say her name was again?" James asked through a mouthful of food.

"Elaina Pierson," Remus repeated, continuing on the dinner roll.

"Maybe you guys should thank her or something," Peter suggested after swallowing some vegetables, "I mean, she didn't have to and Remus said her record is _practically_ spotless…"

"' _Practically_ ' spotless… What does that even mean!?" Sirius exclaimed.

"Why should I thank her, she's merely prevented me from achieving the title of having the most detentions ever?" James replied half-heartedly.

"I'm sure you and Sirius both hold that title already," Remus said.

"Yeah, not much competition there," Peter added.

"I'm aiming for an unbreakable record," Sirius stated with a devilish grin.

"With two years left full of opportunities, I'm sure it's fully capable for the both of you," Remus stated finishing up the food on his plate and rounding up his books from underneath the table.

"So, anything specific planned for after dinner, lads?" Sirius quizzed the other three.

"I was going to head off to the library and get a head start on the Transfiguration essay McGonagall mentioned on Wednesday," Remus promptly answered, steadying his books in his lap.

"Boring," Sirius exclaimed, "James?"

"Sorry, mate, I've got a quidditch practice."

"Peter?"

"I didn't have anything particular in mind, Sirius," he replied.

"Then let's cause a little hell until the other boys get back to the common room, we can all chat later," Sirius spoke with a certain mischievous gleam in his eye, "because, I think I've found someone who can buy some firewhisky for us."

"We'll have to get some for when Gryffindor undeniably crush Ravenclaw at the first quidditch match," James grinned before getting up from his seat and heading back to the Gryffindor tower, his potions book firmly clutched in his right hand. He was undeniably fetching his broom and robes for the practice.

One of Elaina's long fingers grazed over the spines of the various volumes that were tightly packed on the shelves of the library. She perused the titles of thick books intended for the use of upper year students, searching within the _'Charms'_ section for the perfect text to reference in her essay. She settled upon a textbook titled _"Intricate Charms: Some of the Most Challenging Charms and Why They're Important"_ and tossed it on top of the small piles that she had on the floor. Feeling that she had enough material to scrutinize, Elaina organized the books into two piles that she could carry and brought them over to an empty desk.

On the desk, Elaina set out three roles of parchment in case she were to make an error, a quill, and two bottles of ink. The books remained in piles at her feet, ready to be examined one by one. Realizing that she had a lot of work to do, she grabbed the first book in the stack and began reading over the table of contents and jotting down anything that seemed pertinent.

Gathering references was a chore for Elaina, and she knew she would be here until after the sun would set, bringing out the moon; however, being a sixth year student aiming for top grades, she knew that the moon being in the sky was no indicator of the end of her work. Her tea, sitting on her left hand side, grew cold; the flame of the candle near her slowly dipped further into the wax, and her list of solid information grew significantly.

As the need to stretch her legs grew, Elaina stood up and decided to return the books that she did not find useful to the shelves where she had found them. She ambled past all of the rows of subjects, most of the aisles had been empty apart from a few students searching for volumes of Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts. The row containing all of the charms books was once again unoccupied, and Elaina promptly began returning some books.

"Hey, uh," a shy but strong voice began, breaking Elaina out of her reverie about her thesis statement, "I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

Elaina snapped around, her breath being caught in her chest and her wide eyes meeting the pale, scarred face of Remus Lupin.

"Oh, Remus… Uh, yeah, sure, I don't see why not," she spoke, picking up a book from her shrinking pile and placing it on the empty space in the shelf.

"Well, the boys and I were wondering why you took the blame for what happened in Potions today," Remus explained, his gaze not wavering from Elaina's face; yet the same couldn't be said for Elaina, as her eyes never seemed to meet Remus's face.

"Uh…" Elaina trailed off, returning another book to the shelves. To be completely honest, Elaina's brain was still focused on her Charms paper, and her actions in the previous Potion's class had completely slipped her mind.

"See, the boys think it's just some strange attraction."

"Oh," Elaina breathed with a shaky chuckle, "I'm sorry but they're wrong."

"Then why else would you take the blame for them?"

"Look, I'm sorry Remus, but I'm fairly tired and the only thing my brain is focused on right now is that Charms paper due on Monday," Elaina explained, "so, if you want answers just give me a moment."

"Oh right, Charms, I had totally forgotten about that," Remus said, his gaze shifting from her for once.

Just as a moment of silence had taken over the conversation, Madam Pince traipsed by the Charms section, and without a moments hesitation told them, "The library is not a place to hold a conversation, and if you would like to chat, I'd suggest that you do it elsewhere, Ms Pierson and Mr Lupin."

"Very sorry," Remus began, "Elaina was just giving me a book recommendation for our charms paper, we'll try and keep the noise down."

She pursed her lips and gave a curt nod before heading off to make another lap around the library. Madam Irma Pince was not always so strict about noise levels in the library, and students could frequently have a brief, yet hushed conversation; however, if it could be perceived as a distraction to working students, that's when she would intervene.

"Here, follow me, we'll take a seat," Remus said, "that way she'll think we're working and she won't be as likely to interrupt."

"Well, my stuff is already in the right corner of the library," Elaina whispered, shoving another thick volume back onto the shelf.

Remus nodded, helping her place the remaining few books onto the shelf before following her back to the seat where all of her materials were situated. Elaina slumped into her seat upon their arrival, and began focusing on her gathered information - suddenly charms had lost its appeal, especially when someone like Remus Lupin was sitting across from her.

After what seemed like an insufferably awkward silence, Remus spoke up, "Hey, want to make a deal?"

Elaina peeked up after having read the same line about ten times, "What?"

"We can trade references," he explained, "so let's say you find the charms references and I'll find the references for the Transfiguration essay and we'll trade them to save time."

"Well, that depends, how well do you typically do on your papers?" Elaina quizzed - but it was quite foolish to ask, as anyone who knew the four troublemakers from Gryffindor were also aware that Remus Lupin was the genius of the group.

"Typically well," he spoke with a slight grin, "although on a few occasions I have received poor grades, but I have a feeling I'll do well on this one."

"Then it's a deal," Elaina said, mimicking his grin, "finding references is the worst."

Remus leaned back in his seat, his eyes curiously meeting hers, "…so, Potions class?"

"I acted on impulse," she stated, "I don't really have a reason."

"So, not any form of attraction?"

"No."

"Well, that's kind of unusual then," Remus commented, his eyes squinting skeptically at her.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I mean, it's not as if you're particularly close to James or Sirius," Remus answered, "and well, it's not so typical for someone who isn't our close friend to bail us out of trouble."

"Well, they already have detention for the next two weeks," Elaina mentioned, "who in their right mind would want a third week of detention?"

Remus chuckled slightly, "They actually enjoy it, for some odd reason they take detention as a compliment."

"They must be a little insane," Elaina commented before returning her gaze to her paper.

"We're all a little insane," Remus replied, the smirk still playing around on his face.

Another few laborious minutes passed in silence.

"It's just so unusual, especially since you're a Slytherin."

"Now I really know why you're in Gryffindor," Elaina said, challenging his gaze once more.

"What?"

It was her turn to do the explaining now.

"I always thought with your quick wit that you'd be in Ravenclaw," she began, "but your slight arrogance and ignorance to things that don't pertain to you makes me see why you're a Gryffindor."

"Slytherins don't help Gryffindors, I don't see how that's a statement of ignorance, Elaina," Remus breathed, still partially shocked that she had so openly called him arrogant and ignorant in the same sentence, yet it could not have been done any more pleasantly.

"Cunning, ambition, and resourcefulness," Elaina listed, "those are a few of the traits of Slytherin students, it's not all about being an evil person with pure blood."

Remus remained speechless.

"Slytherin students aren't the type of people to have a hundred friends, or to be number one in the public eye, we're more sly than that," she continued to argue, "we're the type of people to stick to a small group of friends and look out for them for an immeasurable amount of time."

"Remus, it's not all about _'Slytherins don't help Gryffindors'_ simply because it's not all about our rivalry. Slytherins make great friends and anyone would be lucky to have a friend in Slytherin whether they're in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff."

Elaina paused for a moment, picking up her quill and staring down at the page. She was slightly embarrassed after going on such a long tangent.

"Are you done?" he asked in a quiet voice — not an annoyed tone, but a curious one.

"Yes," she grinned, looking up, "I also took the blame because I wanted to act a little rebellious for once."

Remus's eyes gleamed — for being rebellious was something he could completely understand — Remus met her gaze, and in that moment they both shared an inciting grin. He could see that beneath her portrayed demeanour she truly wanted to act riotous — that deep down Elaina Pierson was hiding the side of her that was a disobedient trouble-maker.

It was a magnificent thing that Remus considered her statement to be entirely true, for Elaina was perceived as the "quiet" girl at Hogwarts; however, in the muggle world, she was a typical outcast. Elaina had no idea why she broke her quiet girl facade, or why she broke it to Remus Lupin for that matter… _kind of like she had no idea why she decided to take the blame for James Potter and Sirius Black in Potions class._


	2. Coniecturae

**_September 18, 1976._**

 _"You need a little bit of insanity to do great things."_

Every student in Hogwarts seemed to enjoy Saturdays, for there were no lessons, which in turn also meant that the students did not have to wake up early and doze off in their classes. Granted, some students were naturally early risers; however, most were grateful for the extra sleep.

On Saturdays and Sundays, Hogwarts held breakfast an hour later than it did on school days, giving their students a chance to catch up on sleep. At this later breakfast, students were also permitted to appear a tad lazier than usual, and points would not be deducted for a disheveled appearance, yet this didn't mean you could sloppily present yourself. Weekends meant that you didn't have to wear your robes all around the castle, but that didn't give you permission to show up to breakfast in your pyjamas, either.

At breakfast, most students were present in jumpers or graphic tees, although the pureblood families who were significantly more wealthy than the average witch or wizard were always dressed a little differently, and it was easier to spot them in the Great Hall at these times. The children who were well off tended to appear in costly fabrics, all tailored to their bodies perfectly; blouses exquisitely embroidered, accentuating blazers, and polished shoes were not uncommon sights to see at the Great Hall. The loaded purebloods always presented themselves properly, regardless if it was two in the afternoon or nine in the morning. Most students were accepting of how others were dressed, and chose to not pay too much attention to the subject, there was only one student who this sometimes bothered or that this sometimes didn't apply to: Sirius Black. Then again, the Marauders were nearly always an exception to the typical at Hogwarts.

Remus Lupin, who had a particularly challenging time waking up this morning, plopped himself down next to the rest of his friends at the Gryffindor table; a maroon jumper loosely clinging to his body.

"Mornin'," he managed to mumble after a few muffled groans.

Sirius beamed and muffled a few chuckles before adding, "A little drowsy this morning, Remus?"

"Shut up," Remus muttered with a grin, tugging a bowl of porridge closer to him. He took a few moments to rub his eyes — a frail attempt to revive his tired body, before taking a few bites of his food.

"You're still really groggy in the mornings… _well,_ more groggy than usual, Rem," James began, "it was about a week ago, would this have anything to do with —uh — your _furry little problem?"_

"I haven't been resting well lately, I think that's why…" Remus promptly answered, "oh, and James, would you stop calling it that? I'm pretty sure half the school's convinced I have a rabbit that glows in the dark or something."

The lads had a chuckle and continued a cheeky conversation pertaining to glowing rabbits and nicknames for what they could call Remus's _situation,_ yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that James would continue to refer to it as his 'furry little problem.'

During the silences of their conversation, Remus would allow his gaze to circle the Great Hall, and more than once he caught himself scouring the Slytherin table. It's not that he was specifically searching for Elaina or anything, but her absence was noticed. He didn't categorize this as atypical, though, as he knew nothing of the girl — she could merely not be a breakfast person for all he knew. Before he seemed too focused on something else, Remus joined in on the laughter, which was undoubtedly due to something corny that James had said.

"Alright lads, I think I've eaten as much as I can, I'm headed off to the library for now," Remus spoke up once the laughter had died. As he spoke he poured two cups of tea, filling one with what he typically enjoyed.

"Who're you meeting, Remus?" Sirius quizzed. It was meant to be a question, yet it came out as more of a demand. Sirius was curious as to who Remus was so quick to meet, as he had only taken a few bites from his porridge. The four of them were undeniably close, and they so very rarely kept secrets from one another, so it piqued his curiosity as to who Remus was so quick to scurry off to see. _Plus,_ the two cups of tea were a dead giveaway that he was not intending on attending the library alone.

"Well, there are a couple of papers due next week that I've yet to do," Remus began confidently, "and maybe you lot would benefit from giving them your priority as well."

"You want me to sit in and study… on such a lovely day?" quizzed James skeptically, looking rather offended that Remus would even suggest that he should do such a thing.

"Have you gone mad?" Peter accused.

"Have you forgotten who I am?" Sirius grinned.

Remus's statement worked rather well as a distraction, since the three of them were completely focused on his sanity rather than the fact that he had finished making his tea and was now standing from the Gryffindor table.

"Hey, that was merely a distraction!" James called out after him, causing Remus to turn and grin at the rest of the boys.

"Very clever, Remus," cheered Pettigrew.

"Now, will you be telling us who you're going to see, or are you still trying to be secretive?" Sirius asked.

"You know you'll be telling us eventually," James added, raising his eyebrows.

"I've told you lot already, I'm going to the library to finish the papers that are due next week," Remus started, "I'm just going to sit with Elaina, as we've discussed some information that we're going to swap."

"That girl from the potions lesson?" Peter questioned, looking puzzled and a little scared.

"I don't know if that's a particularly good idea, Rem," James stated as he sucked in a deep breath, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose a bit.

"She's alarmingly intelligent, lads," Remus began, his shoulders slumping a bit, "oh, and don't give me that look, Sirius, really, this could only boost my mark on the paper."

"We're not going to tell you what to do, Rem, but you've said it yourself, she's alarmingly intelligent, don't you think that's a tad concerning?" James quizzed, his eyebrows knitting together and lifting over his glasses.

"James is totally right," Sirius stated, taking another bite of his omelette and allowing his eyes to meet Remus's, "she'll figure out about our secrets if you're not careful, and do you really think she'll be accepting of… well, your _furry little problem?"_

"I'm just going to study with her," Remus pronounced, his voice slightly annoyed as he gave his friends an eye roll, "besides, I would never reveal any of our secrets, and I think you should assume better of me. I've never let any of our secrets slip yet, and I do not intend on telling her. I just want to boost my grades a bit."

Peter eyes followed whoever was talking, his shoulders slumped forward, looking for the perfect time to say what his opinion on the matter was without interrupting any of his friends, "Well, um, this whole situation makes me kinda nervous, Remus, but like James said, we're not going to tell you what to do. Just be careful, okay, because it's not just your safety you'd be risking, it'd be all of ours."

"Yes, I'm perfectly aware, and I'm also glad you won't be telling me what to do," Remus said with a grin before turning, both cups of tea in hand, and traipsed out of the Great Hall towards the library.

Remus Lupin was not entirely sure that Elaina Pierson would be situated in the library on such a lovely Saturday morning, but he found himself gliding towards the library with a somewhat optimistic hope all the same. The familiar scent of worn books and opened ink pots filled his senses as he trudged to the seat in the back right corner of the library, one which was far from the exit of the library and hidden from the larger study groups in the centre.

"I brought you tea," Remus spoke at once, breaking a very focused Elaina's attention.

"Oh, uh, thank you, Remus," she spoke while glancing up. She graciously accepted the cup of tea, taking it from Remus and putting it next to a scribbled on piece of parchment.

"I didn't know what you liked in it, so I merely left it black," he informed her.

"I typically take some milk in it, but it's perfectly fine as is, thank you again," she said, glancing down then back again at her Charms essay.

Remus looked down and grinned before remembering that they had a deal pertaining to textbook references for essays due the following week. He spoke up at once, "Oh, I also found four to five solid references for McGonagall's paper, and two to three dodgy ones that you're free to use if you wish."

"The papers only 18 inches of parchment and you've found about eight references?" Elaina quizzed, her eyebrows knitted together in shock.

"Well, I selected a few extra as well, so that you could use whichever you'd prefer, I only used two references myself, but I gathered eight decent ones…" he explained, meeting her gaze.

"Well, I hope you'll be okay with the fact that I only have four references for the charms paper," she said, pulling out a spare piece of parchment on which her references were written and placed it in front of him.

"No, I don't mind at all," he grinned, glossing over Elaina's neat scrawl and memorizing the titles of the textbooks in which she had found the references.

"I have all of the books with me if you're interested as well," Elaina stated, "I've just finished my Charms paper, so it'd actually save me from returning them to their proper spot."

"Yes, thank you," Remus smiled slightly, gripping the back of the chair next to her, "would you mind if I stay here and study with you?"

Elaina was taken aback, as for the past half a year, nobody wanted to be near her. She was so used to studying alone, but the corners of her mouth hooked upwards all the same, and she could not suppress that grin as she spoke, "If you want to, yeah."

Remus shot her a sheepish grin, dragging the chair along the worn wooden floor of the library, and taking a seat next to Elaina. The two worked in perfect silence as the sun rose into the middle of the sky.


	3. Terriculis

**_September 22, 1976._**

 _"Never to suffer would never to have been blessed."_

A short time had passed after Elaina's last class of the day; she found herself sauntering down an ornate hallway which was currently only inhabited by her. If anyone were to ask her why she took this long path after class to return her books to the common room, she would tell them that she loved to take in the castle's breathtaking decorations. However, that was not the case; Elaina Pierson took the road less traveled as it was less of a chance from running into the very people that she had been avoiding, for their words really got to her after a while, despite the brave face she let the rest of the students see.

After a few minutes of glimpsing at the paintings and the various structures — some of them seeming very out of place in the castle — she figured that it would be safe to retreat to her common room to drop her books off and head to the Great Hall to get a bite to eat. She turned to the end of the hallway with an intention to reach the end of it, but she was greeted by three figures, their wands in their hands.

"Did you really think that you could hide from us, Pierson?" The tallest male asked. Elaina took a small step back, her hand tracing her thigh and attempting to grab the wand tucked into her skirt's waistband.

"Ah, ah, I wouldn't touch my wand if I were you," the shortest, and the only female of the group stated, "for it would only prompt us to hurt you further."

Elaina let her hand fall back to her thigh, and met their threatening gaze with a look that matched their hatred, "I won't touch my wand if you put yours away, too. I'm just looking to have dinner. I'm not looking for a fight tonight."

"Very brave words coming from an abomination like yourself," the first male spoke again. Elaina recognized him as Evan Rosier, a Slytherin male who disliked her for the same reason the majority of the Slytherins disliked her: her blood status.

"Yeah, the last time I checked, we don't listen to mudbloods like yourself." The third person, Davey Gudgeon, who had yet to speak finally got his two cents in.

Elaina let out a grunt of utter rage, her eyes welling up in tears as her hand darted for her wand. This was three against one, it wasn't fair. She drew her wand, ready to utter a plethora of spells — spells that would cause them to feel an ounce of the pain that they had caused her for the last half of a year … but it was too late.

The three already had their wands drawn, and after seeing the sheer rage expressed on Elaina's face, they had all hastily shouted _"expelliarmus"_ in an attempt to disarm her. One disarming charm would have proven effective against Elaina, and it would have done what it was supposed to; however, when she was hit with three powerful disarming charms at once, they had tossed her back through the air. She landed a few feet back, her wrist hitting the ground at an inconceivable angle, a grotesque sound echoing throughout the corridor as Elaina let out a sharp shriek.

"Oh shit," the female spoke once more, "we should probably run before we get caught."

"Now what in the bloody hell is this!" A new voice exclaimed as they strolled into the corridor at the entrance closer to Elaina, their eyes falling upon the girl sat on the floor, clutching her wrist to her chest with tears in her eyes.

Through her blurry vision, Elaina made eye contact with the person who had just walked in on the rather unfortunate scene, and she met the intrigued scrutiny of James Potter, who was followed by his cronies. They were all holding an abundance of desserts that they all had undoubtedly snagged from the Great Hall. Their smirks had fallen from their face, their amusement drained.

"Now, tell me," James started once again making his way to stand on guard in front of Elaina; his voice sounded almost dangerous compared to before, "just tell me how three witches or wizards against one is a fair duel."

The three Slytherins who were prepared to run had lost their confidence, and they stood rooted to the spot. The other three Marauders' body language mirrored James', they were all standing stiff and menacingly tall, their amusement drained; the happy-go-lucky pranksters looked absolutely frightening.

"You know, James," Sirius venomously spat, striding along confidently next to James, his wand drawn, "I don't recall it ever being fair."

Peter was the next to make a move, "In fact, lads, there's three of us right here. Three against three sounds a little more even, doesn't it?"

Remus and Elaina made eye contact for what seemed like a long time. This was embarrassing for Elaina, having to have someone fight her battles for her. Sure, she seemed innocent and frail, but in the muggle world, she fell into the "bad ass" category where nobody stood up for her because she was fully capable of standing up for herself. What made this predicament utterly humiliating was that everyone has socially exiled her at Hogwarts within her own house, and the one person who was actually being nice to her recently was Remus, and he not only had to see her like this, but had all of his friends standing up for her. Remus gave her a slight nod as he pursed his lips and trudged forwards.

"Or we could give them a taste of their own damn medicine," Remus stated, standing alongside his best friends, his wand drawn. The three Slytherins looked as if they had seen a ghost, all of them looking scarily ill and as if they might run, pass out, or vomit.

Spells were suddenly being cast from every direction. Sparks were flying. It seemed as though the Marauders had the upper hand, constantly firing charms at their opponent; however, the Slytherins were good at defending themselves and bore no significant wounds so far.

"Potter, Black!" Shrieked a very stern-sounding professor, she approached the Marauders before speaking again, "How many times must I inform the four of you that there must be no duelling within the corridors?"

"But Professor," James began.

"Mr. Potter, there will be no exceptions to this rule, which I assure you, I have informed you of many times," Professor McGonagall spoke again.

"Professor, three Slytherins just attacked this student," James said quickly, before she could cut him off again, "and the four of us were merely protecting the student from any more harm."

Professor McGonagall looked taken aback, her brows shifting down and her head cocking to this side in confusion. Her eyes fell upon the hunched figure on the floor, staring at the crying female from Slytherin who was merely looking back up at her clutching her wrist.

"Ms. Pierson, are you hurt?" Professor McGonagall questioned.

"Well, I… I can't move my wrist," Elaina answered in a feeble voice.

James Potter crouched on the ground next to Elaina Pierson, his gentle eyes peering deep into hers, "May I take a look at it?"

Elaina nodded, moving her arm towards James so he could get a closer look at it. He hesitated before grabbing her arm and turning it a little bit. Elaina winced in pain and his eyes leapt up to meet hers once more.

"Yeah, I'd say her wrist is broken," James spoke, pushing his glasses up his nose, "I mean, I should know, I've broken my wrist like five times now during quidditch."

"Ms. Pierson, have these boys told me the truth?" professor McGonagall inquired.

"Yes, Professor, they have," Elaina admitted, "it was a few students from the Slytherin house, but I'm not entirely sure who they were."

Elaina knew exactly who they were, the woman was Lucinda Talkalot, and the two males were Evan Rosier and Davey Gudgeon. She told Professor McGonagall a lie, for she knew that if she were to reveal their identities, things would only get worse for her. Elaina would much rather be cornered every now and then by the ill-mannered people in her house rather than every few days.

"They're in your house, and you can't provide me with any names?" Professor McGonagall inquired, looking skeptically at Elaina — it was as if she knew that she was lying.

"Sorry, Professor, I can't," Elaina spoke, "I tend to keep to myself."

"Very well," McGonagall nodded, "Potter, you and your friends will escort Ms. Pierson to the Hospital Wing."

Remus bent over, wrapping a slender yet strong arm around Elaina and helping her to stand. Elaina felt that this was highly embarrassing, for she could stand on her own and escort herself to the Hospital Wing.

"If you all stay out of trouble and hurry up, I'm sure you all could get back in time to enjoy the feast," Professor McGonagall announced in her typical stern voice, "and no, boys, sweets don't count as a meal."

With that last note, Professor McGonagall had turned and stalked off towards the Great Hall to enjoy some food herself. With her gone, Remus turned her attention to Elaina and wiped a few tears from her eyes as she was still within his grasp.

"It's really nothing to worry about, Elaina, I'm sure it's just a broken wrist," James piped up, turning his attention to her and her fractured wrist gripped tightly in her other hand. He brought his own hand up to his hair and ruffled it a bit, undeniably thinking that he was so cool for having broken his wrist so many times during quidditch matches.

"I'm not worried," Elaina spoke up, Remus's touch still lingering on her face. It took her a few moments to gather the courage and confidence to meet James Potter's eyes. He gave her a small smile before speaking once again; however, this time it was not to Elaina, it was to his friends.

"Alright, so since I'm sure Elaina knows where the Hospital Wing is, who is up for getting some supper then going back to the Common Room?"

"I'm not leaving her, James," Remus spoke.

Remus's objection startled James, and anyone could read it on his face. James Potter was used to his friends fawning over his ideas. Instead of causing a fuss about it, James just nodded and looked off into the distance.

"Okay, fine, we'll take her to the Hospital Wing, but if this causes us to miss those legendary meat pies, you get to deal with my grumbling stomach all night," James said jokingly.

"I thought that was thunder the last time!" Peter exclaimed, joining in and earning a chuckle from all of his friends and even a small laugh from Elaina. This boosted his confidence a bit, and he smiled to himself as he straightened his shoulders.

Remus who noticed that Elaina was hiding a laugh found it the point of interest to watch her laugh at her friends's quick humour. He felt that he had let his arm linger a moment too long around Elaina, and so he moved away from her before she would realize and comment about his proximity.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, Peter, you can quit exaggerating now," James giggled as he playfully rolled his eyes. His right hand was shoved into his pocket, pulling out a tiny golden orb which he proceeded to roll in his fingers nonchalantly before putting it back.

"James, it was far from an exaggeration," Sirius grinned, biting back even more laughter.

"Oh, so sorry, mate," James jested, "guess I ruined your _beauty_ sleep again."

This caused Elaina to feebly attempt to hide another laugh. It was obvious that Sirius was the pretty boy — not that his other friends weren't attractive, but Sirius's looks surpassed the majority of others', he was utterly handsome. Elaina wondered if the group was so comfortable with each other that they constantly made fun of each other for things like that.

"Guys, don't forget that Elaina needs to go to the Hospital Wing," Remus stated, shaking the boys from their fits of laughter.

"Why, yes, of course, Remus," James began in a mocking tone, "we couldn't forget that!"

The boys all had another chuckle, and the five of them began stalking off in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

James pulled out the golden snitch from his pocket, twirling it between his fingers before speaking up, "so, Elaina, do you follow quidditch?"

"Well, I've seen a few games, but I've never actually played…" she admitted.

"How on earth have you never played?" James quizzed, looking puzzled as he released and caught the snitch again.

"Well, James, not everyone is as into quidditch as you are." Remus pointed out.

Elaina was formulating a reply pertaining to quidditch and how she would really like to learn to play when the three Slytherins cut them off in their tracks once again.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Peter growled.

The rest of the boys straightened their shoulders defensively, and their faces became grim once more.

"You lot really need to learn when to piss off," James grumbled, returning the snitch to his pocket and pushing his glasses up onto his nose.

"Oh, please, we aren't here to talk to her again," Lucinda rolled her eyes while crossing her arms.

"We're here to say something to Sirius," Evan Rosier spoke up, standing dauntingly beside Lucinda.

"Oh, sod off," Sirius groaned.

"Just think of your blood status, mate," the third male, Davey Gudgeon, mentioned, "and think about who you should be hanging out with."

"Well, listen, mate," Sirius grinned, sheer sarcasm dripping from his voice, "you touch that giant creepy tree on the grounds and I'll consider changing my mind about who I speak to."

"A tree?" Lucinda questioned skeptically.

"I'll do it." Davey spoke confidently.

Sirius nodded, and the Slytherins all moved out. Whispers about how simple touching a tree is could be heard as the three of them stepped off. Once they were out of earshot, all the boys had another laugh — even Remus grinned at his feet. Elaina felt like she was left out of a joke, but she thought that it would be better not to question it.

The Marauders and Elaina continued making their way to the Hospital Wing when James decided to speak up, "so, Elaina, why are those three so intent on torturing you, did you steal Ms. Talkalot's boyfriend or something?"

Elaina let out a soft chuckle before stating, "well, actually, all of the Slytherin students kind of treat me that way…"

"You must've stolen a lot of boyfriends then," Sirius commented. The boys all chuckled, but deep down Elaina couldn't tell if they were just making polite conversation or if they were genuinely interested.

"If only it were that," Elaina giggled, playing along with the joke.

"Then what is their reasoning?" Peter asked, a curious tone feebly hidden in his voice.

"It's actually because I'm… well, what they would call a ' _mudblood_ '." Elaina answered.

"All of this over your blood status?" Remus promptly quizzed.

Elaina just nodded and continued walking.

"That's fucking horrible and downright wrong," James began, shaking his head and running his hand through his hair once more, "sorry that's been happening to you, love."

"Tell you what," Sirius said, nudging her arm with his, "we'll prank them really good for you."

Sirius gave her a big, attractive grin — one which she promptly returned. She may never rat someone out to an authority figure, but it sure as hell didn't mean she was above revenge or everything coming back full circle.

"Ooooh, so the good girl is fine with us doing bad things," James mentioned jokingly.

"Nah, I'm just fine with revenge or karma or whatever you want to call it," Elaina corrected, a dangerous spark igniting behind her eyes.

And so, the Marauders dropped her off at the Hospital Wing, and animatedly spoke about meat pies on their way out. Remus did offer to stay with her, but Elaina just grinned and told him not to miss out on the food.

As Elaina was downing the god-awful Skele-Gro, she pondered over the conversations she had with the boys. They were constantly laughing and constantly joking with one another. In a time of such devastation and desperation, could they manage to find a reason to laugh every day? Lord knows that she needed a laugh lately… hell, everyone in the magical world needed a laugh with the Wizarding War constantly playing on in the background like a fuzzy static that never completely goes away. She thought that it was great that they were like that, but everyone knows that a blessing is always a curse in disguise, and that while they would be laughing, somebody was crying for their loved one could be dying.


End file.
